One Last Promise
by mangos
Summary: A oneshot about a angel vampire visiting her family.


**A/N: This is all mine!!! It was a creative writing for school, but i liked it. She is like a angel/vamp thing. I'm not sure. This is also a oneshot. So enjoy,**

I was behind them, as soundless as a shadow. I saw their silent sobs and saw the Calaveras, but none of it mattered at the moment. I was joyous and free. I was weightless and bathed in warm light. I moved towards the altar, almost dancing. My movements were so much more graceful than they had ever been in life. Every step was an exhilarating, powerful ripple of muscle, but my silence was a result of concentration. Thought was no longer a burden either; it was an instinctive reaction. I had more room in my mind to think, to feel, to see.

I focused on the disheveled pair standing at the altar. A young boy, only eight at the most, with dark cropped curls and almond skin stood beside a woman. She had an uneven haircut to roughly her ears that was sleek raven black, in contrast with her creamy alabaster skin. Both were in threadbare coats that didn't seem to keep the chill away from their lean figures. This woman seemed frail, almost breakable in how cautiously her stance was. I sifted through my memories, wondering who they were. I noiselessly edged to the left until I could see their faces. Her face was haggard and she had deep crow's feet lining her eyes. My feelings mentally buffeted me with all the recollections of my small family. Memories flashed before my eyes in a maelstrom. I remembered Cecilia as a little girl, a young woman, a wife. I remembered her struggles and her widowhood. And I remembered a grandson named Tobias. Little Toby had enchanted everyone who met him.

Then I looked closer at the adorned altar. Why were my old gilded glasses sitting above it? And marigolds too? They were my favorite flower. What had happened?

No. Oh no. I couldn't be…it's impossible. I had to tell her, my daughter, that I wasn't dead, or not really. I had to end her grief. I reached out, but before my hand brushed her shoulder I remembered. I remembered the pact with the living, this was not allowed. I was forbidden to touch or talk to the breathing. I wanted to scream in frustration, all my contentment blown away by this one insignificantly small moment. I had to get my emotions under control. One, two, three, four, five…one hundred thirty eight. I wrestled my calm back. Everry second it eas a struggle to focus. Everything was so sharp.

To distract myself, I looked at the pictures, examining each detail thoroughly. Some were old black and white photos, others were shiny and recent. One picture came into painfully clear focus. An old decrepit woman with blank eyes stared from it, confusion in her eyes. But Toby was in the picture too. Toby in the picture was almost identical to the one standing at the altar. The way he hugged her, _me_, so gently, it was as if she were made of glass. Disgust swelled through me. This one photo showed all the venerability of age, all my weaknesses. How could my small family stand me when I was vile and feeble? But here was the proof that Cecilia loved me. Toby grieved for me.

This is what decided me. I didn't care about the rules. I was even more excited to show the being I had become; my family could see how I was. Strong and independent. She could accept me now. I was reborn to come and comfort and guide my daughter. Then Toby turned and raced toward me.

And I was happy, so happy for the joyous recognition in Toby's eyes. I knew I didn't look exactly the same, all the same I knew who I was. I was Maria. An only child. Two daughters, one deceased. I knew all my life. But it was so different looking from my new eyes. It was like each memory of he past was covered and fuzzy. No longer sharp and clear as they had been before. I was glad to leave it behind, all the struggling in life seemed pointless now that I had such a divine quest. To help the living in their strife, it felt complete.

And Toby said, "Nani, I knew you would come back. Mama says you'll watch us from heaven for forever. You will, won't you?"

Cecilia turned, her shock was visible in her face. I didn't answer, just nodded.

But I answered with all my heart, "I will be your protector, your invisible guardian. You have nothing to fear."

And then I faded, to be a dark watcher for eternal time.


End file.
